This update is jammed packed with new functions and features. Also, this is by far the biggest visual update yet! New security features, error prevention, and site structure have been added to ensure that this ship runs clean. Get ready because this is a
BIG update.
New Site Framework
The site now runs on a homegrown framework that works similar to WordPress, however, this framework is even more open source than that of WordPress. All of the front-end pages (except for search, about, and login pages) run off of a single document (actually 3 very similar documents). This will ensure that every page is visually the same, have the same amount of ad exposure, and function modularly. This means that widgets and page elements only need to be changed in one place rather than on every page. There are three main front-end pages: Home Page, Feed Page, and Article Page. They look like this:
include 'assets/cmd.php';
include $page_start;
include $page_header;
?>
include $banner_ticker; ?>
<div class="content">
include $home_banner; ?>
<div class="flex-container">
<div class="f-l">
include $ticker_widget; ?>
include $trending_widget; ?>
div>
<div class="f-main">
include $page_feed; ?>
div>
<div class="f-s">
$height = 500;
include $ad_service;
?>
div>
div>
div>
include $page_footer; ?>
These pages will remain consistent no matter what content you are looking at. The feed and view pages read the URL and decide what should be displayed. Everything is run off of a central control module on the back-end where variables, locations, and functions are defined overtime a page is loaded. Then, there are a couple of front end sub-pages like the search page, about page, and the profile page. This framework (which I am calling BirdPress right now),thankfully, does not make a very profound visual difference to the site. Otherwise it would look like a WordPress site.
Cascading Newsfeed
Canaryjones.com finally looks like a news website! Now the newsfeed displays the 4 most recent articles at the top in a grid and lists the 6 articles below. Once there are more articles, 5 more articles will be shown in a slimmer list below. This newsfeed changes depending on what page you are viewing. Once you navigate to a category page (like Breaking News), the feed changes to a large format list. Once the likes and comments functions are added in. This newsfeed will show featured/top-rated articles first. Also, this newsfeed can be placed on any page!
Tags Support and Related Articles Widget
Now the tags at the bottom of each article are links that will redirect the user to the search page where that tag is displayed. Before, tags were just another keyword to search, but now they are used to generate related articles with the new related articles widget located on the right side of each article page. The related articles widget reads the tags of the article you are looking at and will generate 4 articles with the same tags in chronological order.
Updated Trending Articles Widget
The trending articles widget has a new look and will dynamically change what articles are shown based on the page you are on. On the home page and article page, it will show the top 5 most viewed news articles. On the category (feed) pages, it will show the top 5 most viewed new articles in that category.
All of these widgets and feed mentioned in this update have variable display outputs. In other words, it is very easy to change how many articles are displayed.Advanced Search
Now the search bar and search page run on a homegrown search engine! In this first version of the search engine, you can narrow your search down to specific article types and categories with or without entering in search terms. You can also sort the results by date or views ascending or descending. As of right now, the search algorithm is relatively simple, however it has the potential to be very powerful once more sections of the site are added. When you use the search bar in the navigation section of the site, it will search the whole site and bring you to the search page where the advanced search is available. Other pages will eventually redirect to the advanced search to show all articles either in a specific category or type.
Reserved Space for Ads
Did you see those ugly gray rectangle on the sides of each page? Those are spaces reserved for ads. These are just for future reference so the whole page is not eaten up by our content. As of right now, these spaces have no functionality or purpose besides being place holders, but in the future they will house Canary Jones ads, third-party ads, and advertising service modules (like Google AdSense). The next step is to have ads display in the middle of articles (in between a paragraph break).
Other Changes and Fixes
More security measures were added to prevent users from being somewhere they are not supposed to be.
More error prevention measures have been added so pages don’t crash.
Some more “event listeners†have been added to be sure that each image and page element displays correctly (more will be added in the future).
Edit and Delete links have been added to each article page for administrators.
Now the new post and edit post page will redirect you to the article you are working on (and the errors are easier to read).
Fixed overflowing page elements on the home page and administrator pages.
Secured and fixed the login page (the registration page needs a little more work).
Added a file size limit (5MB) and file extension check to all uploads.
Housekeeping Tasks in progress.
Need a forgot password function.
Maybe a confirmation email upon registration.
Absolute navbar positioning (so it scrolls with you).
404 Error handling.
Pagination on the search page.
